Mass. Market: Nonprofit provides hope and help in a bad economy

Jon Chesto

Saturday

Nov 22, 2008 at 12:01 AMNov 22, 2008 at 10:22 PM

It hasn't been easy for Susan Butters since she lost her job at a financial company in June. The 60-year-old Plymouth resident has been busy sending resumes and attending job interviews, competing with a crowd of applicants. But the search for a new job in this weak economy can be a seemingly never-ending source of frustration.

It hasn't been easy for Susan Butters since she lost her job at a financial company in June. The 60-year-old Plymouth resident has been busy sending resumes and attending job interviews, competing with a crowd of applicants. But the search for a new job in this weak economy can be a seemingly never-ending source of frustration.

Fortunately for Butters, she found a key ally early in her job search: One Life at a Time.

At the unassuming office park in Rockland where the nonprofit organization is based, Butters received advice and tips about job openings for free. Butters also found a critical support network to keep her motivated when it seems like the odds are against her.

When Marshfield resident Chris Driscoll O'Neill launched One Life at a Time one year ago, the state's economy was still relatively stable even as the national economy was starting to fall apart. But O'Neill, the organization's executive director, says the local job market was already beginning to look bleak.

“I had a feeling the economy wasn't going to go too well,” says O'Neill, who says she once went nearly 18 months between jobs after the medical practice where she worked abruptly closed in the early 1990s. “I had a feeling there would be all types of people looking for jobs.”

Her vision seems prescient now. The latest labor market figures for Massachusetts were released on Thursday, and they weren't pretty: The state's employers cut an estimated 7,000 jobs in October, the largest monthly decline in more than three years and the second-largest decline since the last downturn. As if that wasn't bad enough news on one day, the New England Economic Partnership released a forecast predicting that the state would shed some 135,000 jobs over a two-year period.

One Life at a Time couldn't have come at a better time. So far, the organization has been able to offer all of its job-hunting services for free. O'Neill used money from a multimillion-dollar whistle-blower settlement with EMD Serono, a former employer, to help get One Life at a Time started - and she's seeking donations to keep it going for the long term.

O'Neill and her husband, Jim Driscoll, also used some of the settlement money to launch the Driscoll O'Neill Charitable Foundation, which supports charities ranging from Tufts Medical Center in Boston to homeless shelters on the South Shore.

One Life at a Time has already helped an extensive number of people in its first year. O'Neill estimates that nearly 120 people have found jobs with some aid from her organization.

Rick Martin, a former Dunkin' Donuts executive from Weymouth, was looking to get out of the food industry when he approached One Life at a Time for help. He says the staff helped him rewrite his resume and refresh his knowledge of computer programs like Excel and PowerPoint. Eventually, he was hired by O'Neill to work for a separate, for-profit recruiting service that she runs.

Daurice Cox, the director of clinical services at Bay State Community Services in Quincy, says One Life at a Time has been a godsend for her organization, which helps people who are struggling with mental illness and substance abuse. She has referred so many clients to One Life at a Time, it eventually opened a satellite branch at the BSCS office.

Lisa DeLosa says One Life at a Time provided invaluable assistance with introducing her to potential employers in the area. The Rockland resident, who lost her job at a property management firm earlier this year, says she visited other staffing agencies that would make her feel like she's just “on the back burner.” But not One Life at a Time.

Check out One Life at a Time's Web site, 1lifeatatime.org, and you'll see a long list of services that it offers to clients - such as mock interviews, budgeting advice, computer training and job placement assistance.

However, the most important thing that One Life at a Time provides doesn't show up on that list. But you'll hear about it if you talk to any of its clients: a reliable source of hope in an incredibly uncertain time.

Jon Chesto is the business editor of The Patriot Ledger. He may be reached at jchesto@ledger.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.